The present invention relates generally to medical materials and procedures, and in specific aspects relates to cell-containing medical grafts and methods, substrates and devices useful for preparing them.
The field of tissue engineering has demonstrated significant promise to improve medical treatments for patients across a broad variety of conditions or injuries. One area of study has been that of implantable graft materials that contain viable cells from the patient or from other sources. With regard to the harvest and re-introduction of cells from the patient, termed autologous cellular treatment, methods and systems are known for treating a tissue sample from the patient to result in a cellular preparation that can be re-introduced to the patient. It has been proposed that such methods and systems can be used “bedside” in a hospital setting, e.g. in a single hospital procedure or visit in which the biological tissue sample is obtained from the patient, processed to a cellular composition, and re-introduced into the patient.
In certain modes of use, cells to be introduced into the patient can be combined with a cell growth substrate to form a cell-containing implantable graft. Sometimes, these uses involve a culture period in which the number of cells is expanded after application to the cell growth substrate. Other modes of use do not involve such expansion. Rather, the cells are applied to the cell growth substrate and implanted without a culture period.
Despite demonstrated promise, the clinical implementation of cell-containing graft materials has been slow. Needs exists for more convenient and/or effective ways or materials for combining cells with cell growth substrates so that they are situated for survival and often expansion in the patient. In certain of its aspects, the present invention is addressed to these needs.